Mushroom Lord in the Underground City-Chapter 271 - 263: Elarwen

"Big Mushroom, was it you who saved me?"

In the tree hollow, the finally awake Elf, with a face pale from the brink of death, bore an undeniable excitement despite her weakness.

She kept gently stroking Scout Puki’s smooth mushroom cap with her fingers, her gaze full of delight.

As soon as she opened her eyes, she saw two neatly cut Wind Wolf corpses at the entrance of the cave and the Puki beside her with dark red blood still on its Tentacle Blade, making the conclusion obvious!

It must have been this new friend who drove away the wolves, protecting her while she was unconscious!

Though being eaten by wolves wasn’t unacceptable, surviving and making more friends was clearly better!

However... Puki killing Wind Wolves was truly unbelievable!

She never bothered to question why this Puki helped her, as she was often befriended and aided by the creatures of the forest due to her "Friend of Animals" title.

Puki... counts as half an animal?

Not dwelling on such trivial details, she just wanted to get close to her life-saving "mushroom."

The warm, soft sensation she felt just before fainting was still vivid in her mind, and now she couldn’t resist the urge to lean in and express her gratitude.

Faced with this besotted person leaning in, Scout Puki swiftly raised a foot to block her cheek.

[Name: Elarwen Whitestone]

Lin Jun didn’t want to parasitize an unknown target carelessly, nor did he want to deliver a finishing blow, so upon discovering the Elf wouldn’t die, he considered letting Scout Puki leave and continue exploring.

The reason for not letting Scout Puki leave outright was simple, her "Friend of Animals" title.

It wasn’t that Lin Jun was influenced by the title, but that someone with such a title should have lots of animal friends!

Having one more Puki friend in the mix would be logical, wouldn’t it?

He wanted to see if it could follow her into the Elf City.

As for the issue of demons entering and exiting the Underground City, it wasn’t a concern in Divine Wood Dungeon.

This is the only Underground City with no demon activity restrictions or Demon Tide, though the "only" isn’t so unique now.

Sunlight reaching the Underground City shows just how special it is.

The reason behind this uniqueness wasn’t recorded in the collected data.

That’s normal, as Lin Jun’s information source was Inanna and Edin, and humans didn’t actually know much about the Underground City in Elf territory.

After all, the entire Elf territory doesn’t welcome outsiders. Only a few recognized individuals can move freely in the forest without worrying about being shot by arrows from somewhere, and this activity range includes Divine Wood Dungeon.

It’s said that the Sword Saint once briefly gained such recognition in his youth, but it was later revoked for unknown reasons.

Anyway, Lin Jun decided to change Scout Puki’s mission to infiltrating the Elf City, leaving dungeon exploration to other Scouts.

After all, Lin Jun could control more entities now, so maintaining one or two more under Subordinate Control wasn’t an issue.

The situation turned out as expected, this Elf named Elarwen indeed seemed to treat Puki as her "animal friend," but the problem was, she was a bit too enthusiastic...

...

"Just once more! Let me touch your belly again!" Elarwen, undeterred, lunged once more, arms outstretched, trying to reach Puki’s abdomen.

She was met with Assault Ejection Level 7!

Scout Puki stepped on Elarwen’s approaching face, using her force to spring to the other end of the tree hollow.

Elarwen stumbled from the kick, crouching down while holding her nose. Two round, dirt-stained footprints unmistakably marked her face. As she rubbed her aching nose, her fingertips soon stained red—a nosebleed caused by the stomp...

"Hiss..." she muttered quietly, wiping the nosebleed, "Stingy... My fluffballs always liked being cuddled like this..."

Muttering to herself, she didn’t pursue the matter further.

Standing up, she deftly dragged the two Wind Wolf corpses at the entrance of the tree hollow outside. Lin Jun thought she would make a fire to roast them for strength, but she dug a pit and buried the wolves under the tree.

After that, she stretched, loosening her joints and feeling her strength slowly returning.

Then, she looked at the giant tree beside her that took several people to wrap their arms around.

Taking a deep breath, she suddenly sprinted, using both hands and feet to rapidly scale the straight trunk with "swoosh swoosh" sounds!

The speed was indeed amazing, the movements agile, but... completely lacking the elegance of an Elf Ranger.

Clinging to the bark with limbs and pressing close to the trunk as she climbed, Lin Jun couldn’t help but think she resembled an oversized cockroach...

Before long, she reached a fruit-bearing branch, plucking several plump fruits with a hint of red amidst green, stuffing them into her waist pouch, then scrambled back down in her cockroach-like fashion.

While munching on a fruit, she offered one to Puki: "Can you eat this?"

Scout Puki ignored her, and Elarwen shrugged, withdrawing her hand and stuffing the second fruit into her own mouth, mumbling indistinctly, "Hmm... Strange, how do Pukis usually eat?"

It was possible to encounter Puki in some forest caves, but she never really studied them before, and this one...

Its mushroom cap had a small slit of unknown purpose, a pair of small wings on its back, and four blade-tipped tentacles, clearly a mutated variety.

Having finished the fruit and regained some strength, she prepared to leave.

However, before that...

Elarwen knelt before Puki, a serious look on her face.

A green light glowed from her palm, gently grasping one of Scout Puki’s mycelium tentacles.

This time, she didn’t speak incomprehensible Elf Language.

Amazingly, a vague yet friendly thought accompanied the green light, directly conveying—come with me!

Is this the Elves’ Racial Talent, Natural Affinity?

Not any language, more like a universally understood "gesture," like when someone waves to you, you know they’re greeting you.

This mode of communication felt similar to how Tree Demons communicated.

Come to think of it, am I considered part of "nature" too...

Scout Puki fluttered its wings, settling on the Elf’s head.

Sadly, this head wasn’t as comfortable as Scourge’s, which had convenient "handrails," so Puki clamped its feet in place atop Elarwen’s head.

Finally, it was on top... although the heartwarming scene differed from what Elarwen imagined...

But since Puki was willing to go with her, Elarwen was still delighted.

"So you like sitting on my head like Feifei!" She cheerfully shook her head, feeling the weight of Puki, "Hope you won’t fight over territory when you both meet! Speaking of which... Where’s Feifei?"

She suddenly remembered her companion, cupping her hands to her mouth, taking a deep breath, and letting out a clear, long whistle.

A dull bird call responded, coming from under Puki sitting above her head...